Dear Colleagues

On behalf of the Organising
Committee it is a great pleasure for me, as President of the 11th
International Congress on Obesity, to welcome you to Stockholm in July
2010.

Obesity research is expanding
and in its broadest sense comprises numerous aspects of science, from molecular biology to sociology, from genetics to behavioral modification
technology. The exploding global obesity epidemic has made research in
this area of the utmost importance to society, and at every
International Congress on Obesity to date, break through scientific news
has been presented, highlighting just how dramatically the research in
this field is moving forward.

Stockholm at the time of the
congress will be beautiful - the sun shines late into the evening and
the whole city on water offers splendid sights. As a congress organiser
and President, I am in the ambivalent situation of preferring stormy
weather in order to keep participants in the auditoria, yet as a proud
resident of Stockholm, I also want to share my love for this attractive
city. I hope that a compromise can be achieved by combining a few days
of intensive scientific information exchange with some time for
relaxation and touring in the Stockholm archipelago - with its unique
attractions and its 50,000 islands, most of which are actually
accessible to anyone with a picnic basket and a swim suit – you only
need to hire one of the many white steamboats!

Obesity is an illness that has an effect on roughly sixty million folks
in the U. S. , where girls are particularly influenced.

Over one in
three of ladies of ages between twenty and 74 are overweight, lots of
them being Afro-American or Mexican American. With more pre-packed food
and less activity, the amount of overweight folks in America has
gradually increased since the 1960's. But what's obesity? Many folks
think obesity means an individual is chubby, but that is not precisely
right. An fat person has a surplus quantity of weight that includes
muscle, bone, fat, and water. An fat person has a surplus of
subcutaneous fat.

Most health pros concur that a person is fat if he
has over twenty-five p.c fat, and a girl is overweight if she has over
thirty %. Ladies physiologically have more blubber than men, so that
why there is a difference in %. It is complicated to pinpoint the
precise proportion of blubber somebody has, but guesstimates can be made
in a considerable number of ways. First, employing a tweezer-like
tool called a caliper, you can measure the thickness of skin folds on
different points of your body and compare the results with homogenized
numbers. You can utilize a tiny device which sends an innocuous electric
current thru your body and measures your fat %. The most widely used
methodology to establish if an individual is overweight is to take a
look at his / her Body Mass Index ( BMI ). An individual with a BMI over
thirty is believed to be fat, and a BMI over forty is believed to be
seriously overweight.

There has been a strong correlation between sedentary lifestyles and increasing obesity. The use of cars, lack of exercise and internet based shopping have all contributed. For instance consumers can now even get cash advance loans without leaving their home to go to a bank, everything is completed online so there is no need to leave the house!

It is important to recollect though that
BMI might be deceiving in pregnant or lactating girls and in muscly
people. With body weight issues comes the elevated risk of sicknesses
like hypertension, Type II Diabetes, heart problems, and breast, colon,
and prostate trouble.

Additionally, obesity has been associated
with mental fitness conditions like depression or sensations of shame
and low self-image. Health pros say that even losing ten to fifteen p.c
of your body weight can significantly lower the chance of developing
these major conditions.

Additionally, many overweight folk are
discriminated against and targets of insults and other oral abuse. A
variety of elements , for example bad diet, absence of activity,
genetics, and certain medical afflictions, cause weight nonetheless it
can be conquered. One big obstruction to being more physically active
is inducement and responsibility.

The social program includes
an opportunity to participate in a reception at the magnificent
Stockholm City Hall, allowing you to sample the atmosphere of the place
where the annual Nobel festivities are celebrated.

Scientifically, the 11th
International Congress on Obesity will build on its predecessors. It is
difficult to predict what the hot topics will be in 2010, but we
anticipate that we will have an opportunity to discuss in depth the
genetic determinants of obesity as well as new treatment strategies.
Childhood obesity is a rapidly developing research area and recent
suggestions relating to healthy diets may provoke research we can at
this time only speculate about. We are confident of developing an
exciting and challenging programme!

On behalf of all of us working on the scientific and social programmes,I would like to extend a warm welcome to Stockholm in July 2010.